Giving children names is a major event for every family in ancient and modern China and abroad. In order to give their children a good name that sounds good and has a good meaning, it is not just Chinese parents who want to break their heads. France also made a movie for this matter called "Naming Storm" - parents' relatives and friends more than a dozen people read various dictionaries, even looked at the Bible, and spent the night busy, just to give a newborn a tall name.
But during the Republic of China period, there was such a person who cursed his son in order to fight against his family's arranged marriage. He is Xu Beihong. In 1895, Xu Beihong was born into a poor family, but fortunately his father Xu Dazhang was a cultural man who also drew well. Xu Beihong studied calligraphy and painting with his father since he was a child, and his father's expectations for him were particularly high.
In the era of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Xu Beihong, like intellectuals, accepted the baptism of the culture of the new era and hoped to have a free and romantic love. However, contrary to his wishes, in 1912, Xu Beihong's father finalized a family affair for him. Xu Beihong, who is only 17 years old and full of spirit, has adopted a fierce way of fighting - running away from home.
But the trick didn't work for an equally tough father. Not long after, he was arrested by his father and forcibly consummated. You can't disobey your father, and you can't sweep away the face of your family. Xu Beihong vented his anger on his wife.
But this traditional woman was silently patient, always thinking that everything would be fine. It was also this year that Xu Beihong's father was seriously ill, and in order to meet his father's wishes, Xu Beihong had to give birth to a child with this unloved woman. In 1913, Xu Beihong's first son was born, and the family greeted the arrival of the child with joy. Xu Beihong issued a curse on this child - "robbery"!
A child who was robbed, a child who was robbed. The family buried Xu Beihong and changed the name of the child to "Jisheng". But the family's name change did not help, and his wife protested to him, and he was indifferent. In 1914, his father died of illness, and Xu Zhimo began to release himself.
In 1916, Xu Beihong went to Shanghai Meizhong to study, at this time, he met Jiang Tangzhen, Xu Beihong fell in love with her at first sight, and gave her a pen name Biwei. In 1917, Jiang Biwei agreed to elope with Xu Beihong and went to Japan, without the bondage of the family, the two naturally became husband and wife.
Xu Beihong probably thought this was love. However, in the next few years, Xu Beihong developed inexplicable feelings for his student Sun Duoci, which made the relationship between Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei deteriorate sharply. However, Xu Beihong always thought that this was the pursuit of free love, the pursuit of true love.
But he did not go back to look at his original wife, nor did he care about the life and study of his eldest children. In 1921, the 7-year-old Xu Jisheng died of the word "robbery", and the bond between Xu Beihong and his original wife was completely broken. I don't know if Xu Beihong, after experiencing a complicated emotional life in the future, will regret his irresponsible behavior when he was young and crazy.
In fact, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, Xu Beihong was not the only one who did not like his original wife because of "arranged marriage". The most famous cases are the well-known Xu Zhimo and Zhang Youyi, in addition to Guo Moruo and Zhang Qionghua, Lu Xun and Zhu An, who have not been whiteheaded to the end. Even the reason why the pair of Hu Shi and Zhang Dongxiu was able to go to the end was because Zhang Dongxiu's life and death were forced.
However, whether it is an arranged marriage or a free love, whether it is a man or a woman, it should bear the corresponding family responsibilities, otherwise this family relationship that does not like or refuse will eventually come back and cause great harm to itself.